Scam sends local man to prison

A 43-year-old Wellington man was sentenced to one year in prison in the Medina Court last week on a fifth-degree felony charge of theft for failing to perform landscape work for a resident of Brunswick Township.

This wasn't a first time incident for Paul Unik Jr. According to Wellington police chief Steve Rollins, "This guy ripped off elderly people all over."

The Wellington police were contacted in April by Melissa Sorg, who stated that her father-in-law, Harry Sorg, had paid Unik hundreds of dollars for yard work. According to the police report, despite repeated attempts to communicate with Unik, the yard work was never completed, but Unik cashed all the checks that were written to him for the work, totaling nearly $700 dollars.

The police report states, "Mr. Unik knowing that Harry Sorg had a terminal condition with brain cancer kept calling and coming to the house and getting checks from Harry Sorg for items and never came back to do the jobs. This took place a couple weeks after Mr. Unik was advised of Harry Sorg's condition."

While the police were working on this case, they learned that both the Amherst and North Ridgeville police were also looking Unik for similar activity. They also discovered that Unik had an outstanding warrant from Medina County, which was the theft charge for which he was sentenced last week.

In July, Unik contacted the Wellington police when he learned there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Unik was transported to the Lorain County Correctional Institute when he failed to post bond.

In August, Arthur Dumke contacted the police department stated that he had paid Unik over $400 for yard work. Unik only did a portion of the promised work, according to the police report, and did not refund Dumke for what was not completed.

After receiving Dumke's statement, a Wellington police officer contacted Unik at the county jail and served him with charges of theft. Rollins said that the cases from Wellington, Amherst, and North Ridgeville will be presented to a grand jury after review by the county prosecutor.

Unik was convicted of theft several times previously in Lorain County. Court records show that he was convicted of misdemeanor theft charges three times between 2001 and 2009. In addition, he pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Lorain County in the same time frame.